Japan’s Ruling Camp Defers Lower House Vote on Labor Reform

May 29, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's ruling camp Tuesday postponed a planned House of Representatives vote on controversial work-style reform legislation in the face of resistance from major opposition parties.

The ruling coalition previously planned to get the legislation through the Lower House on Tuesday and start House of Councillors deliberations on it as early as Friday.

In a meeting Tuesday, Hiroshi Moriyama, parliamentary affairs chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, accepted a request from Kiyomi Tsujimoto, his counterpart in the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, for postponing the vote.

The work-style reform legislation, featuring a plan to introduce a cap on overtime hours, is now expected to be approved by the Lower House on Thursday.

The board of the Lower House steering committee Tuesday agreed that the full chamber will vote on the legislation on Thursday.

In line with the delay in the vote, the ruling camp is considering an extension of the current parliamentary session, now set to end on June 20, sources familiar with the situation said.

The work-system reform legislation includes a program to exclude highly skilled professionals earning 10.75 million yen or more annually from the work-hour regulations.

The CDPJ and other major opposition parties are urging the government to withdraw the program, claiming it would lead to overwork deaths.

The government and the ruling camp also aim to pass legislation to introduce casinos in Japan during the current parliamentary session.

Abe held talks with Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, Tuesday to discuss the ruling camp's strategy for handling key bills.

In her meeting with Moriyama, Tsujimoto sought to summon people related to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's favoritism allegations involving school operators Moritomo Gakuen and Kake Educational Institution to parliament.

Morimoto Gakuen was once linked to Abe's wife, Akie, while Kake is headed by a close friend of the prime minister. Jiji Press